


quantum entanglement

by bevmantle



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Drinking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Jewish Character, Jewish G-Man Coolatta, Jewish Tommy Coolatta, M/M, Pre-Canon, Trans Character, Trans Tommy Coolatta, tommy can be a little mean sometimes. as a treat, tommy coolatta has a huge chip on his shoulder, tommy coolatta's terrible horrible no good very bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26433535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bevmantle/pseuds/bevmantle
Summary: The thing is, Tommy doesn’t mean to get sloshed at the holiday party. He really doesn’t. He’s just been so damn stressed recently that he decides he deserves to cut loose a little. And then a little more. And then a little more. And then it’s like, whoops! Blastoff!Okay. Wait. Back up.Or, the one where Tommy and Benrey are weird work friends (and maybe something else).
Relationships: Benrey/Tommy Coolatta, Tommy Coolatta/Darnold
Comments: 7
Kudos: 68





	quantum entanglement

**Author's Note:**

> major content warnings:
> 
> \- alcohol/drinking; tommy gets drunk at a party and spends a good chunk of the fic inebriated  
> \- several mentions of puking/vomit; no graphic descriptions  
> \- tommy kisses benrey once while drunk; however, benrey recognizes that tommy cannot consent and does not let things continue
> 
> if youre sensitive to any of these things, this may not be the fic for you! i set the rating as teen for those reasons, and for language. pls let me know if i missed anything else that needs a cw!

The thing is, Tommy doesn’t mean to get sloshed at the holiday party. He really doesn’t. He’s just been so damn _stressed_ recently that he decides he deserves to cut loose a little. And then a little more. And then a little more. And then it’s like, whoops! Blastoff!

Okay. Wait. Back up.

It had started a few weeks back, when his dad had asked him if he wouldn’t mind taking on an extra project over in Advanced Biological Research down in Sector E-2. And, truthfully, Tommy _had_ minded. He was already swamped with the upcoming rocket launch, and he really didn’t know how he’d be able to handle managing a _cloning_ project on top of that, especially when that wasn’t exactly his area of expertise. But he couldn’t say no to his dad—not that his job was dependent on his dad or anything, Tommy was adamant that his work, and not his family ties, would speak for him—but he supposed it would look bad for him to refuse. So he took it on, which meant a _lot_ of overtime and a _lot_ of extra paperwork and a _lot_ of time spent around the bio lab staff. Also, the bio research lab had a stupid rivalry with the Sector D propulsion labs, which meant that everyone was super unwilling to trust him, which meant that morale was low, which _meant_ that all of their work was getting done very, very, very slowly. Slower than molasses drips off a—look, he had had it up to _here,_ okay? He did _not_ have the spoons for metaphors right now.

If all that wasn’t enough on its own, Tommy was on the outs with his dad again, which big-time sucked. Tommy and his dad didn’t fight often, which he was grateful for, but when they _did_ fight, it was always really bad. This time it was some stupid blowup over what Tommy was going to wear for their Hanukkah card photo—no, Tommy, this is a _serious_ photogaph, you absolutely _must_ wear the blue sweater even though it’s itchy and it smells like mothballs and it reminds you of Aunt Gertie who’s always rude to you. Sometimes we all have to do things we don’t want to do, Tommy. You know I do everything for you, Tommy, even when I don’t want to. Blah blah blah _blah._ Ugh!

Tommy knew it would blow over eventually, but until it did he would be sleeping in the dorms, mostly just because he could and only a little bit because of spite. See! He was perfectly fine living on his own! Sunkist came to visit him every night and he was definitely not a little bit emotionally wrecked about it! Tommy let out a frustrated sigh. They fuck you up, your mom and dad—or, in Tommy’s case, your single omnipotent father. Well, whatever.

At least the Black Mesa Holiday Party was coming up soon—Tommy was really looking forward to it, actually. He had heard from a friend of a friend who worked in security that the new guy in Mixology was, like, super cute and hot and nice (which was totally Tommy’s type) and he was probably definitely gonna be there. And Tommy was going to talk to him, and they would exchange numbers, and they would go on a date, and and and! Maybe they could get married and raise Sunkist’s puppies together...Tommy made a mental note to ask him about his experience with dog training.

Tommy was startled out of his reverie by the feeling of someone watching him. He looked around the bustling Black Mesa Cafeteria, but didn’t immediately see anyone he knew. His dad wouldn’t be caught _dead_ in the company cafeteria, so at least Tommy knew it wasn’t him. He searched the edges of the room, trying to figure out who—oh, huh. Did he know that guard? Tommy squinted across the room at him, trying to figure it out. Why was the _guard_ staring at him? Either Tommy was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing—which he was pretty sure he wasn’t, he was allowed to do a lot of things in Black Mesa that most employees couldn’t dream of getting away with—or the guard knew his dad and had recognized him. Tommy rolled his eyes. Great, just great. He stood up, intending to walk over and give the guard a piece of his mind.

Before Tommy could move, the guard’s expression changed. He put his hands on either side of his helmet, thumbs over where his ears would be if they were showing, and wiggled his fingers, sticking his tongue out at Tommy.

Tommy, shocked, let out a huge and raucous laugh that had half the table next to him turning to look at what was going on. By the time Tommy had finished wheezing, the guard was completely back to normal, his face a total blank slate. Tommy tried to make eye contact with him again, but it was like the other man was ignoring him completely. Oh my G-d, what the fuck _was_ that? Did that really just happen? _Why?_ Well, Tommy didn’t really care about the why. It had been funny, that’s all. He grinned to himself at the thought of it. It would be enough to help him get through the day, that’s for sure.

Over the next week, Tommy kept running into the same guard, all over the facilities. Tommy swore he had never seen him before—maybe he was a new hire? Maybe the guards’ patrol routes had changed? Tommy couldn’t bring himself to care too much, though. He was busy, and honestly, it was kind of a nice distraction. They’d pass in the hallway, or spot each other across the room, and the guard would make a funny face, or pretend to trip over something, or mime like he was going to climb into one of the vents—and every time, without fail, it would crack Tommy’s shit _up._ He’d almost fucked up a very important check-in with the Administrator because the guard had been there, standing off to the side, making a little hand puppet and moving the mouth every time Breen had started talking. G-d, that had almost been _so_ bad, and Tommy didn’t even _care_ because it was so fucking _funny._ Tommy was pretty sure, at this point, that the guard could probably sneeze in his direction and it would send him into a laughing fit. Jeez, he didn’t even know the guy’s _name._

Hmm. Tommy could fix that, though. Once his shift was over for the day, he booted up the computer in his dorm and logged into the employee records section of the company database. He wasn’t supposed to have access to these, technically—but he did, so he was going to look at them. Tommy clicked over to the “Security” tab, and scrolled down until he found the guard he recognized. Huh—he squinted at the screen. There was some kind of glitch with the name input—it was repeating, so much so that it broke the bounds of the cell. Well, Tommy could ping one of the IT people later. He studied it again. Benrey? Benry? No—definitely Benrey. Tommy sat back, satisfied with the new information. Then he leaned forward again, because, wait, he could _totally_ look up that cute guy from Mixology. Tommy was pretty sure he had spotted him at the all-hands meeting, and if that _had_ been him...wowza! Tommy had overheard one of his labmates talking about how the new guy was really good at what he did, too—some kind of potions prodigy, or something. Handsome _and_ amazing at potions? Yeah, Tommy was going to date the _fuck_ out of this guy.

The day of the holiday party, when it finally came, found Tommy in a foul mood. It had started out bad, and seemed to only get worse. His back was killing him from sleeping on the shitty regulation dorm bed, but his dad still hadn’t apologized, so he couldn’t go home. Everyone in the bio research lab was pissed at him for no reason (so what if he had accidentally-on-purpose let their test subject out of the tube! They had looked at him with _so much_ sadness in their eyes!) so work sucked. Tommy hadn’t even seen Benrey around much recently, just a couple nods across the hall here and there, which was like...he didn’t miss Benrey. He barely knew him! But he, like, _missed_ him. Annoying. Work was stupid, family drama was stupid, being alive was stupid, stupid, _stupid._

Boy, did he need a drink.

Tommy almost considered skipping the party and just going back to his dorm and going to sleep, but the promise of an open bar and the opportunity to flirt with Darnold “Mr. Mixology” Pepper himself convinced him to just suck it up and go anyway. He could do it. Just have a drink or two, impress Dr. Pepper with his dateable-guy vibes, get his number and go home. Easy _peasy._

Things never did go the way they were supposed to, though, huh? Something something the best laid plans of mice and men (and whatever Tommy was).

Everyone Tommy passed on the way to the party wished him a “Merry Christmas, Dr. Coolatta!”, to which Tommy (who under normal circumstances would be polite about it but who was currently _very_ stressed out and had very little patience for Christian hegemony) would respond with a gesture at his yarmulke. This invariably led to the other person getting super embarrassed and over-apologizing, which was _super_ annoying. By the time Tommy got to the party itself, he was more than a little grumpy, and he headed straight for the bar without so much as greeting anyone else. He ordered a gin and tonic and downed most of it in one go, shaking his head a little at the taste. _Boy,_ that was strong.

One of the interns from the propulsion lab ran over to the bar excitedly to ask Tommy if he wanted to do a shot with the rest of the labmates. Well, what the hell right? Maybe it would help him loosen up.

“3, 2, 1, LIFTOFF!” the lab cheered as they did their shot. The bio research team looked on, unimpressed. One of the bio interns got up, grabbing Tommy’s arm as they passed by, and dragged him back over to the bar to do a _double_ shot with the bio lab. Tommy grimaced, but whatever. He’d do it to keep the peace. It’s not like he had been _planning_ on doing shots at the holiday party, but he could hold his liquor. It was fine.

Half an hour later, it was not fine.

Tommy was nursing his second vodka soda and trying not to let on that the room felt like it was spinning out of control every time he nodded at the lab assistant that was talking to him about some new experimental parameters she was excited to try. He excused himself during a lull in the conversation, hoping to get some air, but found himself pulled into yet _another_ circle of people talking about G-d knows what.

“Tommy!” One of the bio lab techs said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “Any idea whether old man Coolatta was able to convince admin that our lab should get Christmas bonuses this year?”

Tommy frowned. “Why would I know that?”

The tech laughed. “Oh, hilarious! He’s your dad, isn’t he? Anyway, come on, you really haven’t heard anything?”

“No, I haven’t. Besides, it wouldn’t be a—a _Christmas_ bonus anyway, my dad’s—we’re Jewish.”

“Well, come on, Tommy, my man Tommy, coolest lab supervisor and, uh, friend to clones and lab rats everywhere—maybe you could put in a good word with him for us?” The rest of the people in the circle nodded eagerly.

Tommy bristled. “I’m—I’m more than my relationship to my dad, you know! I really resent, like—the implication that I—um, and besides—” Tommy hiccuped, then continued. “None of you even like me anyway! Which, like, I don’t _care_ about, honestly, but you don’t have to pretend now just ‘cause you—um, because it’s holidays. Time.” Tommy crossed his arms, swaying a little bit.

Everyone stared at him.

“Uh...sorry, man,” one of the techs finally muttered. Awkwardly, one by one, the circle dispersed, and Tommy was left standing alone.

This party fucking _sucked._

Tommy shook his mostly-empty cup, squinting at the droplets clinging to the bottom. Maybe he _would_ have another drink. At this point, Tommy wasn’t holding out hope that it would make him feel better; now he just wanted to avoid feeling anything else for the rest of the night.

“Hey,” a voice stirred him from his thoughts. “Can I get you another drink?”

Tommy blinked. It was _him!_ Darnold Pepper! Talking to _him!_ Tommy Coolatta! Wow, Darnold was way handsomer up close. Wow. Whoa. Wow. Tommy blinked again. “S-sorry?”

Darnold smiled, nodding at Tommy’s cup. “What’s your poison?”

Tommy looked at the cup in his hand as if surprised to see it. He should not under any circumstances have any more to drink, he thought. “Oh! Um! Vodka—vodka soda!”

“You got it,” Darnold said, and winked at him, honest to G-d _winked at him,_ and holy _shit,_ it was like the memory of every moment from earlier in the day had just wiped itself right out of Tommy’s brain. The room was spinning around him again—romance sure was a hell of a drug!

 _Tommy, you are drunk as a skunk,_ chided the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his dad. No, shut up, it was definitely not the alcohol making everything soft and fuzzy and spinny. It was _romance._

While Tommy waited for Darnold to return, he looked around the room, studying all the people who were clustered in little groups. It had gotten pretty crowded. His eyes were pretty unfocused, though, and he didn’t really register the fact that he was staring until he realized that someone was staring back.

“Hey!” Tommy shouted, one hand cupped around his mouth, the other hand beckoning Benrey over, because of course it was Benrey.

Benrey looked around, then shuffled over, seeming almost reluctant. “Hey.“

Tommy beamed. “Hi!”

“Uh…” Benrey scratched at his chin, where his helmet was strapped. “Sup.”

“Hey! Wait a minute!” Tommy said. “Where’d you—where have you _been?_ I feel like I’ve barely seen you!”

Benrey shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. “I’ve been busy, uh. Guarding...stuff.”

“Oh.” Tommy slumped.

“Is…” Benrey hesitated. “Is everything. Uh. Are you like. Okay, bro?”

“Not really!” Tommy said. “I’m—I’m drunk! Everything sucks! And I miss seeing you. Around.”

“Whuh?” Benrey said. “You don’t—uh, betcha don’t even know my name.”

“I do _too_ know it! You have a great—a cool name. _Benreyyyyy._ So cool. Like, um—” Tommy snapped his fingers. “Sounds like Barney! But cooler.”

“Oh.” Benrey rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks.”

“I’m—I’m Tommy!” Tommy said. “Or. I guess I’m usually Dr. Coolatta? But, um, you can just call me Tommy.”

Benrey stared at him. “Yeah, I, uh. I know who you are.”

“Oh, _great,”_ Tommy heaved a sigh. “You know my dad, huh. Well just—just so you know my dad and me are having a—we’re not on speaking terms, right now.”

Benrey blinked. “Whuh?”

Tommy rolled his eyes. _“So,_ I can’t help you. With, with whatever you want him for.”

“Uh...I definitely don’t want your dad. Is he, like. Is he important or something?”

It was Tommy’s turn to blink. “Huh? Wait, how—how do you know who I am?”

Benrey looked at him. “I’m Black Mesa Security Force? You swiped your card through the door? I just looked you up in the system afterwards, bro.”

Tommy gasped, then started giggling. “Oh, that’s—that’s _super_ against, um, against Black Mesa Security Protocol!”

“Huh? Yeah, uh—you gonna, gonna tattle on me?” Benrey was still staring at him, but the corners of his mouth pulled up into the suggestion of a smirk.

“N-no!” Tommy was still giggling, “Because I looked you up in the system, too.”

Benrey’s smirk grew at Tommy’s admission. “Sir, I’m gonna have to take you in for that? Come with me to Black Mesa jail please?”

Tommy cracked up. “Black Mesa jail!” After a moment, though, his laughter petered out, and Tommy grew serious once more. “Seriously, though, I’ve—have you been, um. Avoiding me?”

Benrey looked away, then. “I—I dunno.”

Tommy frowned, and leaned in to shove Benrey a little bit with his shoulder. Benrey acted casual, but Tommy felt him pull away from the touch, just slightly. “Did I do something?”

“It’s—” Benrey seemed to struggle. “No, it’s—I just—I, uh. I can’t. This isn’t a good—the right time, for. Uh. Talking.”

Tommy’s face crumpled. “I _did_ do something, didn’t I? How come you can’t s—can’t just _tell_ me?”

Benrey raised his hands, trying to calm Tommy down. “No, Tommy, dude. It’s not like—it’s cool, I—”

“You suck!” Tommy said, feeling tears prick at the corner of his eyes. Damn his fucking, fucking _pisces energies._ Not even being on testosterone for years could stop him from crying at the drop of a hat. “Seriously, Benrey, you—you suck and I’m really mad at you!”

“That’s—uh. Yeah. Okay,” Benrey said. “I get it.”

“You _don’t_ get it!” Tommy said, raising his voice louder than he probably should have. He didn’t care, though. There were tears running down his face, his head was fuzzy, and everything felt _bad._ “I’ve been working really—been working _so_ _fucking_ _hard_ on projects that aren’t even _mine_ and everyone is mad at me all the time and my dad is mad at me too and nothing I ever do is good enough for anyone! And you were, like, um—you made me so—you were _nice_ to me for no reason but I wasn’t—I couldn’t be good enough for that either!”

Benrey stared down at the floor, clearly uncomfortable but not saying anything. Tommy’s chest heaved with silent, furious sobs as he tried to catch his breath. He scrubbed at his face, the scratchy fabric of his lab coat feeling just absolutely _horrible_ against his damp skin.

“I’m back! Sorry, there was a bit of a line at the bar,” Darnold said, pushing through the small crowd, a drink in each hand. He noticed Tommy’s tear-streaked face, and looked from Tommy to Benrey, wide-eyed. “Oh. Are you okay? What happened?”

“Darnold,” Tommy said through a sniffle, “Can I—can I have my drink, please?”

“Uh...sure,” Darnold said, handing it over. “Also, wait, how do you know my name?”

“It’s not important right now,” Tommy said. He looked down at the drink Darnold had passed to him. As if he were moving in slow motion, he flicked his wrist, splashing the contents of the cup down Benrey’s shirt. “Think ‘m gonna—gonna barf,” Tommy muttered, sinking to his knees, and oh, yep, people were staring now. Well, whatever. Let them stare! Nothing to see here, just Dr. Coolatta, PhD, barfing on the floor at the holiday party. Happy _fucking_ Hanukkah!

He felt a hand on his back, suddenly, rubbing his shoulder gently. Darnold, probably. Tommy leaned up into the touch as much as he could while making sure he didn’t actually puke.

“I wanna—I wanna go home, Darnold,” Tommy said, eyes screwed shut.

“Uh—he said, um. He went to go look for a bucket?” Benrey said, because of course it was Benrey with his hand on Tommy’s shoulder and not Darnold. Of _course._ “Think you’re stuck with me, bro.”

Tommy put his face in his hands. “This is the most—this is the worst night of my _life,”_ he said, voice muffled.

“Hey, don’t—uh. ‘S okay. Let’s just get you home,” Benrey said. “Think you can stand, or you gonna blow chunks?”

Tommy took a shuddering breath. “Um, I think I—I can stand, yeah. Also, please don’t say that to me right now.”

Benrey shrugged. “Probably feel better if you do, though.” He reached a hand down to Tommy.

After a moment, Tommy peeled his hands away from his face, patted his cheeks and heaved a sigh. He grabbed Benrey’s hand, hauling himself up. He swayed on his feet a little bit, but puking felt like more of a vague possibility than an imminent danger, so it was...probably okay.

“Can you just, um—” Tommy kept his gaze focused on Benrey’s boots, suddenly hyper aware of how many other people were in the room. “Get me out of here. Please.”

Benrey nodded and began to push Tommy towards the door. Tommy was actually a little glad Benrey was a security guard, because it meant he had zero qualms about shoving people out of the way with a well-placed elbow. Tommy stepped gingerly through the crowd along the path that Benrey cleared for him, ignoring the way that everyone seemed to be staring at him. Repairing lab relations would be a problem for future Tommy to deal with. Right now he just wanted to get back to his dorm, drink a big glass of water, and cry himself to sleep with his face smushed into Sunkist’s fur.

“Hey. Look,” Benrey said. “You, uh. You made it outside. See?” He pushed the door open and Tommy could feel the cool breeze of the desert night. It felt good. Tommy took a deep breath.

“Thanks,” Tommy said, already feeling somewhat steadier in the fresh air. He tried to take a step forward, and—nope, nope, bad idea. It was all Tommy could do to keep from falling over. “Fuck, I can’t—everything’s, uh—the ground is too close.”

“Oh shit. Okay. Hang on,” Benrey said, and stepped in close. He wrapped an arm around Tommy’s waist, pulling Tommy’s arm down to rest across his shoulders. Benrey laced the fingers of his free hand with Tommy’s, making sure Tommy’s arm stayed put. “Better?”

Tommy exhaled, waiting for everything in his body to settle. “Yeah, I—I think so.”

“Which direction?” Benrey said. “Please.”

“Dorms,” Tommy said, too scrambled to explain anything else. He patted at his waist with his left hand, eventually reaching into the pocket of his lab coat and pulling out the key card that had his dorm number on it. He handed it to Benrey, who made a little noise of surprise.

“Huh?” Tommy asked.

“Nothing. I just, uh. Didn’t know you lived on-site.”

Tommy’s hand twitched in Benrey’s grip. “I usually don’t.”

“Oh.” Benrey paused for a moment, then: “Uh. You good? ‘S a bit of a walk, I think.”

Tommy nodded, and the two of them began walking slowly in the direction of the topside dorms.

After a few minutes, Tommy started to feel like he could mostly walk on his own. He squeezed Benrey’s hand to get him to stop, then unlaced their fingers and swung his arm off of Benrey’s shoulders, over his head. He stretched a little, shaking out his wrist. When he nodded at Benrey to let him know that he was good to keep going, Benrey nodded back, taking Tommy’s hand again and just swinging it a little bit. Tommy couldn’t find it in himself to complain, though. Benrey’s touch was firm, and it helped ground him.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Tommy spoke up. “Do you—um. Do you think Darnold hates me now?”

Benrey was quiet for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah. No way. He went to get you a puke bucket. That’s—” he smacked his lips. “That’s dedication.”

Tommy mulled it over. “Oh. Huh. I—I guess so.”

“Yeah. Besides, he’d have to be dumb to stop liking you over, uh. Over a lil puke. What’s a little barf between bros. Am I right?”

Tommy didn’t laugh. They both walked in silence for another few minutes until Tommy spoke again.

“Benrey, I—I’m sorry I threw my drink at you.”

“Huh? Oh. ‘S okay. Kinda hated this shirt anyway.”

“Yeah, but,” Tommy struggled. “I don’t even—we don’t know each other very well, and I took out all my, all my stress, on you. You haven’t been mean to me at all, really.” He squeezed Benrey’s hand, trying to convey his apology through the touch.

Benrey stared down at their hands. “I’m, uh. I’m mean people, though? I feel, um. Yeah. Was very not cool. To you.”

“It’s okay,” Tommy said automatically. “Why, uh—why were you avoiding me, though?”

Benrey kicked at a rock in passing. “It’s, like. ‘M not supposed to have—good feelings? For people? ‘S kinda weird. Felt really soft and like. New. I dunno. Just got kinda scared, I guess.”

“Huh? You, um,” Tommy tried to work it out, even though his brain felt like it was underwater. “Oh. S-soft feelings? About me?”

Benrey shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

Tommy gripped Benrey’s hand, agitated. “No, it—but—really, you could’ve just _talked_ to me about it. Now you’ve got a—a damp shirt, and I—you have to walk me home!” He punctuated his statement with a nervous laugh.

Benrey cracked a smile, swinging their hands. “Uh, I already said I don’t mind? Big PhD brain can’t keep up?”

Tommy laughed again. “You’re really—um, you’re really funny! You make me laugh a lot.”

They walked for another few minutes, making smalltalk about work and not much else. They finally slowed to a halt in front of Tommy’s dorm.

“This is, um—this is my stop!” Tommy said. “Thanks for walking me home, Benrey.”

Benrey nodded. “Anytime, bro.”

“Thanks.” Tommy hesitated. “I think—um, actually I think tomorrow I’m gonna ask my—talk to my dad. I don’t really want to manage any projects in Biological Research anymore.”

Neither of them moved. Benrey stared at their hands, which were still intertwined.

“Hey, uh,” Tommy said. “Benrey, I—

“Huh?” Benrey said.

Tommy took a deep breath, leaned in, and pressed their lips together.

Benrey made a surprised noise against Tommy’s mouth before relaxing into the kiss. His free hand came up to cup the back of Tommy’s neck, stroking at Tommy’s hair before they broke apart, panting gently despite the gentleness of the kiss.

“I—” Benrey started. “Tommy. You’re, uh. Still drunk.”

Tommy giggled. “So?”

Benrey shook his head, rubbing his thumb over Tommy’s knuckles before reluctantly dropping his hand. “So...not like this. Okay? Please? ‘S very no bueno. Besides, I uh—I thought you liked, um. Darnold?”

“I—I do, but,” Tommy said, “You’re—you—um. I like. I feel—safe. With you.”

Benrey turned his head and let out a few bubbles of blush-pink Sweet Voice.

“Oh!” Tommy said, eyes wide. “I can—I can read that! Um, light pink blush means ‘I’ve got a—'”

He was interrupted by Benrey coughing. Tommy waited patiently for him to catch his breath.

“Look, Tommy...ask me again, alright? When you’re...uh, when you feel better. ‘Kay?”

Tommy nodded, then threw his arms around Benrey, hands gripping the back of Benrey’s shirt like he might vanish if Tommy let go.

“You’re—why are you so kind to me?” Tommy said.

“Whuh?” Benrey said, squeezing Tommy back. “You—you deserve, uh—more than this place.”

Tommy sniffled a little into Benrey’s shoulder. “Thanks, Benrey.” He pulled away, stepping towards his front door. He unlocked it, but paused before opening it, just looking back at where Benrey stood in the dark. “Do you think, um…” Tommy scratched the back of his neck. “Could you. Stay with me? I have a couch, I just, um—I don’t want to be h—to be alone. I mean, Sunkist is here. But I...um. Yeah.”

Benrey looked to the side, then at where Tommy’s hand rested on the doorknob. “Uh—sure, I can—um. I can stay.”

Tommy let out a breath. “Thanks,” he said, finally pushing the door open and stepping inside. Benrey followed close behind.

Sunkist padded out of the dark as they stood in the hallway, bumping her head into Tommy’s hands for pets and sniffing delicately around Benrey’s waist and legs. Seemingly satisfied, she let out a soft _boof_ and grabbed at Tommy’s sleeve with her mouth, trying to pull him deeper into the dorm apartment.

“I have to feed her,” Tommy said apologetically. “Would you mind, um—there’s Advil and stuff in the bathroom down the hall that way, could—could you just grab the bottle for me?”

“No prob,” Benrey said, shrugging a shoulder, not really looking at anything in particular.

Tommy let himself be dragged away by Sunkist, turning the lights on as he went. He filled a bowl with Sunkist’s kibble and made sure she had enough water before heading for his room, intending to find some blankets and spare pajamas for Benrey. He passed by the bathroom as he went, the sound of running water audible through the closed door. Tommy sat down on his bed, meaning to just catch his breath. He would get up in a minute to find his spare comforter. Seriously. He was doing it. He was getting up. His bed was _really_ comfy, though, and the buzz in his head had for the most part subsided, leaving him with only a bone-deep exhaustion. Tommy sighed. He would get Benrey’s stuff in a sec. He was just going to close his eyes for a minute.

Tommy woke up confused. He was still wearing all his clothes, but he was under the blanket, and—was that his lab coat, on top of the blanket? He sat up, lab coat fluttering to the floor as he put a hand to his head.

“Ow,” he said. Sunkist immediately appeared, pushing the door open and stepping up to the side of the bed so Tommy could scratch her ears.

“Hi, girl,” Tommy said, running his hands through her soft fur. “Why’m I—how’d I get in bed?” He looked around the room, eyes landing on two Advils and a glass of water on his bedside table. “Oh.” He took the pills, downing most of the glass in one go. “Guess I should go check on Benrey, huh? Some host I am.”

Sunkist snuffled gently, nudging at his hand with her damp nose. Tommy yawned, swinging his legs out of bed and standing up. He felt...not awful. Not _good,_ but...he’d felt worse, probably. He followed Sunkist down the hall into the living room.

It was empty. The couch was unoccupied, though there was a folded blanket draped over one of the arms. Benrey was nowhere to be found.

Tommy ducked into the kitchen. There was a tinfoil-covered plate on the counter, and he uncovered it, revealing some scrambled eggs and a couple of breakfast sausages. He put the dish in the microwave. Tommy sat, resting his chin in his hands, and waited for it to reheat.

Eventually, after a call to his dad, some tears (on Tommy’s end), and numerous apologies (on both ends), Tommy was feeling a little better. It helped that he had successfully advocated for his own removal from the cloning project and his dad had acquiesced; that alone was a huge weight off Tommy’s shoulders. It would be Shabbat in the evening, too, and the idea of finally being able to go _home_ and light candles and share a fresh loaf of homemade challah with his dad was...well. Tommy was really looking forward to it.

After a couple of calls to let the lab know he was running late, Tommy made it to work, actually excited to test out the new parameters that had been proposed for their upcoming rocket launch. Tommy swiped into the propulsion labs, mind already racing with possibilities and different hypotheses they could test. He was so preoccupied that he almost walked right into Darnold, who was waiting outside the main conference room.

“Hey! Tommy!” Darnold said, face lighting up.

Tommy, who was still trying to recover, felt himself blush. “Darnold? Why’re you—uh, this, this isn’t Mixology!”

Darnold laughed. “No, definitely not. I actually overheard some of your propulsion docs talking a little while ago, and I gotta say, I understood maybe two words of the whole thing.”

Tommy laughed, too. “Oh, I’m sure I wouldn’t, uh, understand much of what you do down in Mixology either! It’s so complex! There’s—you have so many unstable materials!”

Darnold shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know, I don’t know. Maybe so.”

Tommy smiled back, then realized he was making a goofy face and looked away, rubbing his neck. “Uh, well—can I help you, with—with anything?”

“Oh!” Darnold said, almost as if suddenly remembering why he was there. “Yeah, I actually, um. I asked someone, yesterday, which sector you worked in...uh. I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing, after—after last night. I didn’t know what happened, since you kinda, um, vanished?”

Tommy winced. “Yeah, I—I got kind of overwhelmed. Benrey, um—my, my friend, who was there—he brought me home. I didn’t mean to disappear, I’m—I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay! You don’t have to apologize,” Darnold said, then paused. “Not to pry, I know you don’t know me very well, but...um, is everything okay? Between you and him? Only because, you know. I did see you throw a drink at him.”

Tommy bit his lip, nodding as he thought back to everything that had happened the night before. “Yeah, it’s—it’s fine. It wasn’t—he didn’t do anything. I was just, I was having a bad day. But he was really nice about it. And he helped me get home.”

Darnold studied him for a minute, then smiled, giving an awkward laugh. “Okay. Good. Like I said, not that we know each other well, but...yeah. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Tommy smiled back, his heart flip-flopping. Darnold Pepper... _cared_ about him? Even after how embarrassing he’d been at the party? Boy, that was...well, Tommy felt like it was nothing short of a miracle, and Darnold was some kind of angel.

“Hey, I was wondering, um…” Darnold reached out, resting a hand on Tommy’s bicep, and _oh,_ his heart was doing something funny again. “Would you want to...go out sometime?”

Tommy’s breath caught in his throat. “I’d really—yes. I would like that a lot.”

Darnold’s smile grew. “Okay. Great.”

Tommy stood, just reveling in the feeling of Darnold’s hand on his arm. It felt like he was in a dream. “Um, Darnold, I have to—um. I have to work now,” he said.

“Right! Yeah,” Darnold said, pulling his hand back. “Sorry for keeping you.”

Tommy flashed him a smile. “I’m busy tonight, but—come by the lab tomorrow? When your shift ends?”

Darnold beamed. “You got it. Oh—here,” he added, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper that he handed to Tommy. “My number. If you wanna text me, I mean. You don’t have to or anything, but I just thought—”

“Darnold, I would really—I would _love_ to text you,” Tommy said firmly. He hesitated, then leaned in to peck Darnold’s cheek.

“Oh gosh,” Darnold said, touching his cheek with his hand. “Wow.”

Tommy giggled. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Darnold leaned in for one more peck, then left for Mixology again with a little wave.

Tommy gave a dreamy sigh, one hand on the door into the conference room. He turned his head, just stretching out his neck, and saw—

“Benrey!” Tommy said. “How long were you—no, wait, uh, where’d you go? Last night?”

Benrey shrugged. “Got called in to cover an early shift this morning. You seemed okay, so, uh.”

“Oh.” Tommy looked between him and the conference room, stricken. “Benrey, I’m—I’m really sorry, but I have to—I’m pretty late, so—”

Benrey exhaled hard enough for Tommy to hear. “No, it’s cool, dude. Go ahead. Gotta get to work.”

“Benrey—”

“No, it’s, uh—it’s no big deal. We’re cool, Tommy.”

Tommy looked like he wanted to say something else, but he kept his mouth shut, just nodding instead.

“I’ll, uh. See you around?” Benrey said, scuffing the toe of his boot against the floor.

Tommy swallowed. “Thanks,” he said. “For last night.”

Benrey didn’t answer, just stared down at the ground.

“Okay, I’ll, um—I’ll see you,” Tommy said.

Benrey cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

“Um...okay.” Tommy looked at Benrey once more, then took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and stepped into the conference room.

**Author's Note:**

> this is super duper tonally different from other stuff ive written for this fandom, it took me a long time and was rly hard to get the voices to feel right LOL so im sorry for any inconsistencies! i also think this is the longest oneshot ive written for hlvrai so far which is funny cause like.. i guess frenrey is my main ship? i mean i p much ship everything but anyway. the tomrey feelings would not leave me.
> 
> pls leave a comment or kudos if u feel so moved! or drop me a line over on tumblr at [jewishbubby](http://jewishbubby.tumblr.com).


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